Metallic-leaf ribbon.



F. H. DAVIS & G. SCHUMACHER.

METALLIC LEAF RIBBON.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17, 1914.

1, 1 24, 1 14, Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

' I E amwwtozy 6s wmemo WMASWIMW FRANK H. DAVIS AND CHARLES SCHUMACHER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW" YORK.

METALLIC-LEAF RIBBON.

mantra.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J? an. 5, 1915.

Application filed March 17, me. serial No. 826,318.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that we, FRANK H. DAVIS and CHARLES SCIIUMACIIER, citizengof the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Metallic-Leaf Ribbons, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a novel and improved gold or other metallic leaf. ribbon, designed for use in the ornamentation of leather, cloth or other surfaces with gold-or other metallic leaf.

In the ordinary process of employing and applying metallic leaf, such as gold leaf, for

stamping, embossing or otherwise ornamenting surfaces of the character described, the leather, paper, cloth or other material is first embossed, printed or stamped with the desired matter which is to be goldleafed. The impressed surfaces, if not printed with a liquid size or cementitious ink, are then coated with oil or dusted with a dry size, such as pulverized resin, so that the metallic leaf will adhere thereto. The foil of gold is then either taken from a book, in the loose manner in which it is put up, and applied to the printed or embossed surfaces, or a roll of gold leaf, consisting of a ribbon of loose gold foil backed by a ribbon of paper, is put into a holder and passed over the im ression to apply the gold thereto. The lea ed surface is then oiled and put back in the press, and the compressed surface stamped again to firmly apply the gold leaf. The application of the oil, usually olive oil, is made in order to hold the leaf in position and prevent it from blowing away, and when a hot stamp or die is employed gives a burnishing effect, where by the luster of the leaf is improved. In the use of a hot die, the heat and pressure of the die will also serve to fuse or melt the dry size, when the latter is employed, by which the leaf is caused to adhere to the embossed surface. In some cases the dry size isused without coating the leaf with oil, and in other cases the oil is used without previously employing the size, the main obect of employing the size and oil being to hold the applied leaf intact while it is being stamped against the embossed surface. The materialthus leafed is then removed from the press and the surplus gold leaf removed. The use of a size or oil in the manner described is necessary where the goldleaf is used directly from a book, or where it is put up in roll form with a carrying r1bbon or tape of paper or other protective material, since the gold leaf must be firmly impressed and caused to adhere to the surface. This ordinary process of gold leafin involves a series of steps, requiring cons erable time and expert manipulation, malnng the process comparatively expensive, while at the same time such process is wasteful of the leaf, since the leaf or foil, employed in a loose condition, is liable to be blown away. Moreover, a considerable amount of waste occurs owing to the impossibility of recovering from the embossed surface all of the excess amount of the leaf applied thereto. Furthermore, it has been impossible heretofore to apply gold or other metallic leaf to fine fabrics and other delicate surfaces, since the use of oils or sizes in the methods heretofore employed has rendered it impossible to apply the leaf without injury to the goods or marring them so as to render the goods unmarketable.

One object of our invention is to provide a novel and improved gold or other metallic leaf ribbon whereby these objections are avoided and whereby the surface may be stam ed or embossed, and the metallic foil applied and burnished in a single operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metallic leaf ribbon by means of which gold or other metallic foil may be applied to delicate fabrics or other delicate goods without marring or injuring the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metallic leaf ribbon which, in its application, reduces the amount of time, care and skill required to apply it to the surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metallic leaf ribbon in which the metallic foil is secured to a carrier strip by means of a combined adherent and burnishing medium, capable of holding the particles of the leaf intact against loss and in a smooth and even film which retains its smoothness and pliability, allowing the foil to be put up and sold as an article of manufacture without liability of deterioration thereof from age or climatic conditions, the character of the combined adhering and burnishing substances being such as to permit the foil to be separated from the strip for application under heat and pressure.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a metallic leaf ribbon which prevents the foil from being blown away and lost, which insures 'tlie transfer tothe embossed surface of siifiii'ent only of the foil to cover said surface, andwhichenablesthe excess of unused foil to be recovered without waste.

The invention consists of the features of.

construction, combination and arrangement of parts herein fully described and claimed, reference being had to .the accompanying a drawing" in which Figure 1 1s a perspective view of a roll of .metallic' leaf ribbon 'made in accordance with our inventiomshowing the end of the ribbon unwound :from the roll and in sectionto illustratethe'construction. Fig. 2

' leaf ribbon comprises a carrier strip 2, of

paper or other suitable material, having upon its facea coating 3 of a combined adherent and burnishing substance, of the character hereinafterv described. vOver this" layer 3 of the adherent and burnishing substance is a layer or coating 43 of gold leaf,

and preferably applied to the outer surface or face of the leaf 4 is a coating 5 of a suitable size, such as hereinafter descr1bed The carrier strip and metal foil or leaf may be]v made of various sizes or widths, and may be u't up in book, roll or other suitable form for use. i The ribbon leaf thus constructed insmooth and pliable, non-sticky under all ordinar atmospheric temperatures, and may be han led without liability of loss of the metallic foilfrom the carrier strip, since the particles of the foil are both bound to-.

gether and caused toadhere to the surface ofthe carrier strip by the combined adherent and burni'shing substance, rendering the ribthe same and a suitable die, printing or I stamping element C which may be heated bon capable of being sold as an article of manufacture, as'the foil will be held and,

preserved in a smooth and pliable strip for a practically indefinite period. The combined adherent and burnishing substanceor medium employed is preferably yellow beeswax, cut or thinned outxby the action of'a, suitable solvent, such as benzin orits. equivalent. *Yellow beeswax isused, instead of white beeswax, for the reason that it contains. a'proportion .of the saccharine constituents of the original wax, mainly honey, whichlrenders it sufficiently tacky or sticky to hold the particles of. the gold leafbound in a smooth manner against separation, while at'the same time securing the ribbonof foil thus formed to the carrier 'strip. -In preparing theadherent and burnishing substance, approximately one ounce of yellow beeswax is placed in a vessel, with one quart of benzin or its e uivalent, and the two boiled for a period o about ten minutes,.whereby thebeeswax is dlss'etved and thinned out to the desired con sis' y. The liquid adherent is then applied,";e'ither hot or cold, to the surfaces of the paper carrier strip, thegold leaf or foil then being applied over the-adhesive coating, while the carrier strip is restin ona .hot iron, or after the gold is applied it is rolled down smooth upon the carrier'strip' by means of a hot iron, the solvent thus being evaporated and the particles of the gold'smoothly laid while the adherent is kept in a soft condition, so that when the adherent solidifies the particles of gold will be bound together and firmly secured to thecarrier strip. In practice, said gold leaf may be lifted. out of an ordinary gold leaf" foil 4 with the coating of size 5, which preferably consists of a thin layer of transparent varnish or cement, such as French varnish. This varnish is in liquid condition and is applied to the face of the leaf by means of a brush or otherwise, and upon the evaporation of its solvent forms a smooth layer which gives additional protection to the foil and cooperates with the coating 3 to hold the foil intact and secured to the carrier strip.

In the process of employing the metallic leaf ribbon for ornamen ting a surface the surface A which is to be ornamented, and

which may be of leather, cloth, paper or other material, is placed in a suitable press upon a backing or platen B and between in any preferred mannerJ The free end of the carrier strip is then unwound from the rolland a portion of the'strip, face downward, disposed between the surface A and the die G which latter is then moved toward the backing, thus makingan impressionthrough the strip 1 on to the surface .A. Under the heat and pressure of the impression portion of the die, which may consist ofiordinary type faces, the films 3 and 5 are fused or melted by the heat along the regions of contact and transferred with the immediate portions of the gold film adhering thereto to the surface A. This effects acleanly transfer from the strip l of Limes-114a only such portions of the adherent material, gold leaf and size as'anei directly impressed by the type faces or embossed surfaces of the die leaving: the remamder'ofthe films or laye's intact with the carrier stri as shown in Fig. 2.. The amount of gel leaf not used is thus preserved upon the carrier strip, from which it cannot be blown away and lost, and from which: it may be recovered by burning the strip and subjecting the gold to an ordinary recovery process. The portion of the sizing-51 which is fused and adheres to the surface A, firmly secures the transferred particles of the gold thereto, while the portion of the layer 3 which is separated from the strip 1 and is transferred with the gold to the surface A is acted upon by the heat and pressure from the iron to impart t0 the-transferred gold a brightness or luster which can not otherwise be produced, the adherent material thus serving in thisconnecttion' asa burnishing medium. When the die is retracted and the used portion of thecarrier strip removed from the face of the material A, the gold leafed surface appears in its completed state, requiring no cleaning or removal of excess material, as only the exact amount of gold is applied to form the desired design or impression. Hence it will be seen thatby means of a metallic ribbon leaf of the structure defined and the mode of action set forth, the surface A is stamped or embossed, gold-leafed and burnished, as well as sized, in a single operation, doing away with a large number of the steps commonly employed and obviating the loss of gold which commonly occurs. Furthermore, this construction of metallic leaf ribbon and mode of action enables the work of embossing or stamping to be carried out in an extremely simple, cleanly and eilicient manner, and without the care and trouble required under ordinary processes. As the size is applied to the goods-simultaneously with the gold leaf, which is in the form of a self supporting film, and is thus transferred in a sharp and cleanly manner, delicate fabrics and other delicate surfaces may be gold-leafed or ornamented in this manner without injuring or marring the same, since the application of oil or the use of size in a broad-cast manner is avoided. By this means, silks, fine linen and other goods which can not be or namented with gold or other metallic leaf under ordinary processes may be ornamented in a most delicate and exquisite manner without liability of injuring or marring the same. Delicate surfaces ornamented in accordance with our process are, on the contrary, left in a proper condition to be sold as the finest grade goods.

A gold, silver or other metallic leaf foil put up in ribbon form in accordance with our invention is adapted to be sold in the open market for use at any time, since it is not affected by ordinary heat ormoisture and will not crumble or break, but always remains smooth and pliable. The outer layer of size with which the metallic ribbon is coated not only assists the adherent layer in holding the film of gold intact, and in protecting the face of the metallic leaf from moisture, but further serves as a binding medium which facilitates the cleavage of the stamp portion of the metallic film from the remainder of the film, allowing sharp impressions of the most delicate character to be made. The adherent substance of yellow beeswax possesses sul'licient adhesiveness to hold the particles of gold intact and secured to the carrier strip, while permitting it to separate therefrom along the lines where heat and pressure are applied, and at the same time serves as a burnishing agent by which a bright luster is imparted to the transferred gold. Furthermore, the adherent material serves to ren-.

der the metallic film self supporting and pliable,so that the size may be applied to the film without liability of the film being broken or brushed away.

Our invention provides a metallic leaf ribbon which differs radically from prior metallic leaf ribbons, in that the metallic leaf is secured to the carrier strip by a vehicle which acts not only as an adherent and burnishing medium, but also as a physical agent to make the bound particles of the gold film pliable. The use of yellow beeswax for this purpose is of great value and importance, since it possesses a stickiness or tackiness, which is not present in white beeswax or in paraflin or other similar waxes. The yellow beeswax is also peculiarly valuable because it contains just a suflicient amount of honey to render the adherent composition flexible and adhesive to the right degree, owing to the combination with the wax of an adhesive substance natural to it and for which it has an ailinity, and which is present in it in the right proportions. Furthermore, yellow beeswax possesses a fineness of texture which admirably adapts it for the purpose, and such substance does not become brittle, but remains plastic, owing to the presence of the honey therein. These results can not be gained by the use of white beeswax or paraifin with a foreign adhesive, for the reason that such waxes will not combine with resinous or other adhesives in such a manner as to secure uniformness and fineness of texture, plasticity, elasticity and adhesiveness to the degree required. Parafiin, would be, if employed, inefficient for the reason that it has a coarseness of texture not adapted to permit fine lines to be transferred by pressure. This substance is also objectionable because of its tendency to crack or crumble, under-which the metallic leaf would break up, alsobecause of its tendency to spread instead of fusing locally when heat is applied thereto, and also because it leaves a cloudy film upon the surface of the gold, which can not be removed without injury to the embossed work.

I claim 1. A metallic leaf ribbon comprising a carrier strip having a film of gold upon the face thereof secured thereto by a wax containing a stic substance.

2. A metallic leaf ribbon comprising a wax containing a small amount of sticky substance. Y

'3. A metallic leaf ribbon comprising a carrier strip having a film of gold upon the face thereof and secured thereto by a film of yellow beeswax.

4. A metallic leaf ribbon comprising a carrier strip having a film of gold upon the face thereof secured thereto by a layer of beeswax having a sticky medium incorpoingcoat of rated therewith, and a coating of size applied to the face of the film.

5. A metallic leaf ribbon comprising a carrier strip having a film of gold upon the face thereofsecured thereto by a film of yellow beeswax, and a coating of size applied to the face of the film.

6. A metallic leaf ribbon comprising a carrier strip havin a' film of gold secured thereto by a layer 0 beeswax having a sticky medium incor oratedrtherewith, and a sizrench varnish upon the face of the film.

7. A metallic leaf ribbon *comprising a carrier stri having a film-of'gold upon the face thereo secure low beeswax, and a siz-in coat of French varnish upon the face oft e film.

In testimony whereof we aflix'our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK H.. DAVIS. CHARLES SCHUMACHER. Witnesses:

JOHN H. Ross, GEORGE KILLIAN, Jr.

thereto by a film'of yel- 

